Category: Literature / Books

Posted on

A Psychologist Likes Swallow!

Swallow just received a very good review from a psychologist and top 10 reviewer on Amazon! I was a bit worried since the book is mainly about a psychological condition, and a psychologist is one of the main characters, so I’m thrilled she liked it. The psychologist in the book is very Freudian, which is I guess is not the norm today. Anyway, it definitely helped me to get over the sting of my first one-star review! That’s okay – knew I’d have to get one at some point…

I’m also having fun sending the book out to international bloggers. It recently received a good review from a blogger, Violet Crush, in Singapore, and Blue Archipelago Reviews, in England. And I just sent it out to a blogger in Australia. I’m having too much fun 🙂 The kindle version recently went up on the Amazon U.K. site. I don’t think as many readers in the U.K. use e-readers and my Amazon.com reviews don’t seem to be transferring, so if any British readers of this blog would like a review copy (or if anyone else wants to review it), please let me know!

Posted on

JENNIFER BELLE REHEARSED PROFESSIONAL LAUGHERS AT DANCE NEW AMSTERDAM

Ha, I love it when my two favorite subjects – dance and lit – collide! A favorite author of mine (ever since her Going Down days), Jennifer Belle, publicized her latest book by hiring actresses to read it in public places throughout New York and laugh hysterically while doing so. She happened to audition the actresses at Dance New Amsterdam, the large studio in lower Manhattan that’s a favorite of small dance companies for inexpensive rehearsal space and that’s recently been in danger of closing due to lack of funds. Anyway, read the rest of the rather amusing story here.

Posted on

BRIEF BLOGGING BREAK

Hey you guys, I just wanted to let you know I’m in the process of re-modeling my website a bit. I should have the new site up very soon – I’m hoping the beginning of next week. At this time any new posts here are not automatically going to transfer over which means I’ll have to manually add everything. So, I probably won’t be posting again until the new site is up.

Thank you SO much to everyone who is being so wonderfully supportive of my book, by the way. The Kindle version is still on the Amazon top 100 list and is still at this time at number 1 on the legal fiction and anxiety disorders lists. I’m more thrilled than I could ever express. I’m just so happy people (well over 1,000 now!) are reading it.

Anyway, will be back soon! In the meantime, happy first international dance day everyone!

Posted on

PLEASE PLEASE!

Hey you guys! I have the hugest favor to ask 🙂

So my novel in e-book form has been climbing the Amazon best-seller charts, winning awards and getting good reviews. I’ve been told that if it continues with this success that there’s a chance I could get picked up by a good publishing company, which is my dream beyond dreams! So, I’m just asking you all to spread the word! It’s about a young Manhattan attorney with an anxiety disorder called Globus Hystericus, and it’s comical in places, but also very serious. Reviewers have found it both entertaining and thought-provoking. People who like books about lawyers, women’s fiction, or books about anxiety disorders seem to be liking it the most. It’s currently 99 cents in e-book form and is $14.99 in the paperback version. But since the e-book version is doing so well and people seem not to mind taking a chance on a new author at that price, I’m trying to get the word out about that one. So if you know anyone who reads e-books (the Kindle version is downloadable onto any e-reader as well as a PC or Mac) and likes the kind of fiction mentioned above, please let them know!

Thank you so much you guys!

Posted on

KINDLE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

I am today’s interviewee on the new blog, Kindle Author, which is for people who are thinking about publishing their books via Kindle. I think it’s my longest interview yet and I blabber on and on about my own writing and publishing journey, the reader outreach I’ve tried to do, and the advantages I’ve found of publishing in e-book form. If you’re an aspiring author, I highly suggest subscribing to that blog; he’s got some really good interviews up.

Posted on

KINDLE NATION DAILY EDITOR'S NOTE

I’m today’s sponsor of the fabulous website Kindle Nation Daily‘s daily email. Look at what the editor wrote in his note! (I sent him a review copy of Swallow.)

(Editor’s Note: Ordinarily I don’t say much to embellish the material provided by authors and publishers for our sponsorship titles, but it’s not often that — for a mere 99 cents — we get to play a part in discovering a new novelist who is destined for very big things, as you can see from the 5-star reviews from some of the top Amazon reviewers to the great blurbs and book description below. As one of Tonya Plank’s first readers among the citizens of Kindle Nation, I promise that you are in a for a real treat. -S.W.)

How sweet is that! It’s from an email, but I think you can access it online here, or here.

Update: Only minutes after this email went out my book shot up the Kindle bestseller charts, making #307 on the overall Kindle charts, and #3 on the Legal list! 😀

Posted on

DRIVE-THRU INTERVIEW, AND SWALLOW MAKES LEGAL THRILLER BEST-SELLER LIST ON AMAZON

Today I have a short, “drive-thru” interview on fabulously wonderful indie author Jenna Elizabeth Johnson’s blog, Hello Kruel, Kruel World.

I met Ms. Johnson on the Kindleboards, where I’ve connected with a number of really kind and supportive indie authors. I joined Kindleboards after hugely successful indie-turned-traditionally published author, J.A. Konrath, suggested the site as an excellent way to connect with other authors and readers of Kindle books.

It seems to have worked in my favor sales-wise as well because last week, due largely I’m sure to my reducing the price of my Kindle book to 99 cents (for at least the duration of the summer), my Kindle sales skyrocketed, putting Swallow on a couple of Amazon top-seller charts: Anxiety Disorders, and Legal Thrillers. Sales have slipped a bit over the weekend but it spent nearly all of last week in the top 10 of those two lists, which was really surreal.

Funny thing is, strictly speaking of course my novel is not a legal thriller, but the way Amazon categorizes things, since it’s legal fiction and since Amazon reviewers have tagged it with words like “lawyer,” “legal,” and “criminals,” it was categorized as legal, and the only root category for legal fiction it seems is Mysteries & Thrillers. So I guess that’s how that worked. Others have mentioned they had the same thing happen: a legal comedy and a novel whose protagonist was a lawyer but had no other connection to the law were both categorized as a legal thrillers too. Anyway, it’s not like I don’t have a product description and several reviews for people to read before deciding whether or not to purchase.

And, even though my book focuses on the main character’s anxiety disorder, it is largely about her job as a criminal appeals attorney, and representing a certain segment of society. That’s one huge thing I was hoping people would come away knowing more about after reading. So, although I worried at first about it being mis-categorized, I think it’s actually a good thing that it ended up there; it’s a sign to me of what I should be writing anyway. The book I’m working on now is more in that vein – it’s about a shooting witnessed by various people, from different perspectives.

Anyway, I’m just so thrilled some people are reading it. Thank you again to all of my wonderful, wonderful blog readers who have been so supportive! And to my new indie friends 🙂

Posted on

I WRITE LIKE … NABOKOV?!

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Okay, I’m having a bit too much fun with this, which I just saw on Galley Cat. When I put in a couple paragraphs from the opening pages of my novel, I got Nabokov. Which was kind of funny – thought for sure I’d get Nick Hornby or Helen Fielding or perhaps Martin Amis. But Nabokov?! But then when I put in an excerpt from one of my blog posts I got J.K. Rowling. Hmmmmm.

I write like
J. K. Rowling

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Try it, it’s ridiculous fun!

Posted on

SWALLOW RECEIVES A VERY GOOD REVIEW IN THE EXAMINER!

By Maureen Linehan:

“Tonya Plank’s debut novel, Swallow, is as engaging as any book I have read. Although it does seem to be a little long at first (just over 400 pages), the character development is so appealing that once you start reading you find yourself eagerly anticipating what will come next, as you will undoubtedly sympathize with Sophie, and hope that she finds peace.”

Read the rest here!

Posted on

SELECTIVE MUTISM AND GLOBUS HYSTERICUS

I just saw this review of my novel. It was posted a month ago, but somehow I’d missed it.

It’s interesting because Rae says she can identify with my protagonist, Sophie, because she had something similar called selective mutism. I hadn’t heard of that before and so looked it up. It’s where a child doesn’t speak in certain situations, although the child can speak and does so at other times. It’s an anxiety disorder, as is Globus. Interesting because I remember having something similar when I was a child. I remember my father thinking I had a speech impediment and having me enrolled in a speech class in … I think it was either kindergarten or first grade. I was in a special ed class with kids who had severe lisps and couldn’t pronounce groups of words properly. The teacher told my parents that wasn’t what was wrong with me and the class wasn’t helping me. I don’t remember what happened, but eventually it must have gone away. I’m just now remembering it.

Posted on

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? DANCERS AND CONVICTS OF COURSE!

There’s a short interview with me, about my book, up on Kipp Poe’s blog.

I met Mr. Poe, an author, on the Kindleboards, which I’ve just recently found. If you have a Kindle, or have downloaded a Kindle app onto another kind of e-reader, it’s an excellent message board where you can chat with other Kindle owners and readers, as well as authors of Kindle books. If you don’t have some kind of e-reader – I can’t believe I’m saying this – but I highly recommend one. A lot of e-books are really low-priced compared to physical books (owing to the comparatively low production and distribution costs), and I’ve found reading books digitally surprisingly enjoyable, which I never thought I’d say. They’re easy to fit in your bag, you can read anywhere because of the internal light, and, like I said, you can buy books for a small fraction of the regular price.

About a year and a half ago, when I needed a new cell phone, I bought  an iPhone and downloaded the various e-reader apps to test how I’d like reading books digitally. I didn’t think I would but I needed a new phone and was sick of T-Mobile so I figured what the hell. Now I read so much on my iPhone – not everything but a great deal. You can buy Kindle books (if you have an Amazon account) directly through the phone without having to be connected to a computer. And of course they download right away; no waiting for delivery. Only real drawback of the iPhone is the short battery life… I’ve heard the Kindle and iPad don’t have those problems though.